ruqayyahali, Marx & Nietzsche

"The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, an with them the relations of production, and with them all the relations of society... Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social relations, everlasting uncertainty and agitation, distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones."

Marx is not generally associated with modernism but his viewpoint on the changing and development of the modern world appear to be essential to the understanding of modernity. In the excerpt above from the Communist Manifesto Marx, in my humble opinion, has as solid definition on what the article is describing as modernity. The up and down flux; the desire of those caught in the whirlwind that is modernism to hold onto the traditional past but eager to revolutionize into the future.  He describes a cycle that is ongoing. Those who are questioning modernity never get answers and the following generation experience the same. There's so much constant changing and conflict within modernism itself that there is not solution.

Nietzsche follows up later saying that the only way to adapt to this whirlwind that is modernism is to forgo the idea of being unique and settle into mediocrity. Rather than fighting with the change, accept the chaos as a type of morality.

While Marx and Nietzsche clearly have different opinions about the phenomenon that is modernism, together they seem to compliment each other in a way that lays the working (or not working) parts of modernism onto the table. Modernity has continued to grow and evolve through art, media, and academics much in the ways that both theorists mentioned, through the ever-changing maelstrom brought on by the new generations. This can be very distinctively seen through the works of artists such as Twyla Tharp, Jackson Pollock, and Garcia Marquez, among many more. According to this article, these are the works we need to look at as students of theorists such as Marx and Nietzsche in order to fully understand the development of modernism as these theorists describe it. 

27percent, Nietzsche

        When I think about the term "modernity," many different words and images clutter my mind. These words and images also make me think of the type of person from this era. Modern people are complex and identify as those that wear many different hats. The theorist Nietzsche describes the modern man as "individuals," constantly trying to “individuate” themselves. Nietzsche describes the modern man as “Our instincts can now run back in all sorts of directions; we ourselves are a kind of chaos” (Nietzsche, 22). I think Nietzsche means that what makes up the modern man is pulled from every point and time in life; no one can completely identify as one thing and is constantly trying to identify as too many things, causing chaos. Nietzsche may be inclining that the modern person while trying to be the many things and beings they wish to be may also be hurting them simultaneously.

        Nietzsche also explains “no social role in modern times can ever be a perfect fit,” where we are constantly changing and taking on others because nothing is ever right and fulfilling (Nietzsche, 22-23). He relates this to the modern man seeking the costume that is right for him, yet failing and trying on more and more and never finding the right one. In the modern era, there is always a need for more and the unobtainable. This idea makes me think of my first year at Rollins College. I came into college with a high GPA from high school, but experiencing some challenges with test score requirements to get into Rollins. My ideas of if I were intelligent enough or if it would reflect my first semester was constantly troubling. I also had only planned on playing a sport and attending school, but then I had met a great group of friends that made me question my priorities. I then wanted to play a sport, go to class, rush a sorority, join clubs, attend campus events and quickly my freshman year had become completely chaotic. I myself was a chaotic being. I was constantly trying to take on many different roles to satisfy myself. It did take me until the end of the semester, plus rushing a sorority, dropping and doing one activity after another for me to realize I wasn’t ever fully content with everything I was doing and nothing was fitting for my personality.

As Told By Ginger, Smith

     In the Grove Art Online article on "Modernity," the author, Terry Smith, discusses modernity in sections; first the nature of it, then modernity in the arts. When exploring the nature of modernity, the author explores the topic through a somewhat timeline of events sequence, relating issues of the times to events that have occurred in the past, therefore shaping our current world.
     Smith references how many associate modernity as "being up to date, 'of today', or, less strongly, part of the present or recent past" (Smith 2007-2010). This immediately brought to mind the way that the general media is always pushing to sell what is most up to date and the newest technologies. We are always pushed by the media and our peers to have the newest model of phone, cars, computers, tablets, etc. abroad, as well as influential celebrities and bloggers.

Many of my own peers have adopted an attitude of 'unworthiness' if you own anything that is outdated, aka, more than a year old. Smith then emphasizes that modernity is a constant changing of the society as a whole, and is often influenced by individual beliefs and actions - which brought to mind political movements both here and
     Returning back to the timeline of events, Smith references the renaissance period and claims that it was then, during the 19th century, that the world really began to modernize. Capitalism began to take hold, and the church / traditional values began to fade into the past. When discussing modernity and the arts, Smith explains how visual imagery and media began to infiltrate cities as billboards

and advertisements lined the streets - the beginning of branding that led to mass production and consumption.
     The author then concludes with the idea that, "the forces of modernization have been blamed for creating alienating, repressive societies that are increasingly divided between rich and poor, for accelerating the inequities between nations and for wide-scale environmental destruction" (Smith 2007-2010). Although I understand how this could apply to many of the issues we face today, I do not understand Smith's explanation there after, and what exactly she means after that statement.
     

Richhiggins - Harvey

       The idea of "modernity" is extremely broad as well complex. However, what makes modernity so interesting to those studying in the field is how "alive"and "ever-changing" it is. One could say that it is a living organism in some way. Harvey pretty much introduces us to modernism in a dramatic fashion that can best be described as, everything we have experienced in the past and everything will come to experience in future. "To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth transformation of ourselves and the world-and, at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are.(Harvey 15)" In the reading, I noticed that key words/concepts kept reappearing over and over again, such as science, technology, industrialization, politics and theory of recreating ourselves for the better. All of which dramatically contribute to the evolution of modernism.
        What makes these ideas evolve though, why are people becoming more and more advanced in so many areas of life? Because people for the most part enjoy change and should continue enjoy all the change that will happen in society. Nietzsche emphasizes this ideology, " embrace them all with joy: we moderns we half-barbarians. We are in the midst of our bliss only when we are most in danger. The only stimulus that tickles us is the infinite, the immeasurable.(Nietzsche 23)" Think how far people have come from the era where communication was only conceived to be one using ink to paper and then have to wait months for a response. Where as today we can get in touch with as many people we want in as fast we want. As time continues people will continue to "critique" everything that we know and are accustomed to. It's the way of life, the rate of modernism is affected by how big the aspirations of the human race are. Harvey stated in the closing of his piece, "to appropriate the modernities of yesterday can be at once a critique of the modernities of today and an act of faith in the modernities-and in the modern men and woman-of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.(Harvey 36)" It's impossible to estimate the rate in which modernism advances but the best way to do so is simply remember the past.

9/3

The world is a fast moving place. We are constantly looking for the next greatest, newest thing. In a world that is constantly evolving, we must adapt to the never-ending advances in art, thought, and technology. It is easy to feel excited, yet afraid of what possible trouble our advancements may cause down the road. Harvey identifies two nineteenth-century figures who are crucial to modernity: Marx and Nietzsche. Both of these great minds speak of the irony that went along with modernity. Things are constantly it a state of flux, yet we are completely comfortable living in this environment. Marx said "ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air" (Harvey 1982, 21). I think this quote is depicting how humanity is moving at such a fast pace, and is constantly trying to reinvent ways of doing things. We move on and adapt to the new problems we face in our ever-changing world, and by doing so we almost disregard the old ways of doing things, which may or may not have needed fixing in the first place. We can look back at texts from Nietzsche and Marx that were written in the nineteenth century and still find valuable thoughts that we can still relate to the present day.

Reading: September 3,2013

The word "Modernity" is scary, and that with this new future people are afraid that they are leaving behind hundreds of years of traditions and moving towards new ideas and practices that seem all to unfamiliar. In a world ruled by corporations and consumerism, we are forced to begin to understand how to cope with such large factors, and move back towards ancient traditions and practices that were once passed down from generations. "To be modern is to be a part of a universe where all that is solid melts into thin air"(Harvey 15). This to me means that everything that we once new and felt so strongly towards, is all leaving and we are left to blow in the wind wherever society and the "modern" leads us. "The maelestrom of modern life has been fed from many sources; great discoveries in the physical sciences, changing our images of the universe..."(15). Society and life today seems to be more proven and understood through facts and testing. We have a tighter grasp on how the world works, and everything from harmful cancer treatments, to diet, and controlling virus. Modernity is based on everything that we have learned in previous generations. We today are at the peak of our knowledge of the world. Our understandings of operation have excelled 1000% in the last millennia, and this is leading to the change in society.
"The argument of this book in fact is that in fact the modernisms of the past can give us back a sense of our own modern roots, roots that go back two hundred years. They can help us connect our life's with the lives of millions of people who are living through the trauma of modernization thousand miles away"(35)
We need to understand the future is changing through economic and social growth, but we can find out roots that have gotten us here in the past.

lacansmirror, Harvey

The ideas and examples of modernity that Harvey discusses seem to parallel the same ideas that we are experiencing today.  Global trade, travel, technology, and other advances have changed our lives to become "modern".  These developments have added more ideas, goods, and experiences to the maelstrom Harvey explains.  The maelstrom is a great way to describe modernism because it is constantly evolving and more can be added to it as people adapt.  Naturally, the capitalist world market is an easy example of a modern maelstrom because many different necessities are thrown together to have successful commerce on a global scale. 

Even though Marx and Nietzsche might not have imagined the current trade complexities to get an Amazon order manufactured, packaged, and shipped half way around the world in under two days, their theories can still be applied.  In addition, they both "asserted faith in a new kind of man -- the man of tomorrow" (23).  Nietzsche said "we are in the midst of our bliss only when we are most in danger" (23).  These theorists were living in a time of change and fear of conservatives, yet they supported change and modernism.  They envisioned the opportunities created from modernism.  Even if life was different, it would still be better for the lives of those shaping the changes.  Nietzsche and Marx were curious to see the "vibrant energy" and "imaginative richness" created from modernism.  Most importantly, when people steered their way though these modern differences, they would be able to find themselves more easily.  I think their focus on self-discovery is an important element in modernism.  Without the ability to discover one's self, there isn't a way to think differently and add to the modern maelstrom.  Original content and innovations need to continue in order for modernism to continue.  So far, ideas like air travel, Facebook, computers, cars, and modern medicine have changed the way we live and I believe have added to our modern maelstrom.